The taking of Grant Park

June 08, 2008

The Chicago City Council has a vote coming on Wednesday. This vote isn't about placating labor unions, or opposing an invasion of Iran, or other topics that busy the aldermen. This vote is about undermining 172 years of courage by retailer A. Montgomery Ward and other superb stewards -- some from City Hall. Those heroes behaved as though the grand dreams of their respective generations weren't as important as preserving Grant Park so generations of Chicago children and adults could enjoy its open spaces in the centuries to come.

Today's aldermen may not be up to that measure. Many looked wiggly and anguished Wednesday -- like grandparents struggling to play Twister -- during a Zoning Committee meeting. In the end, they did just as Mayor Richard Daley wanted: By a 6-3 vote, they rubber-stamped a land grab that would give the private and clout-dripping Chicago Children's Museum a 99-year lease in this sacrosanct public park.

To do that, the aldermen had to torpedo the prerogative that had given them final say over development decisions in their own wards. During the meeting, several aldermen verbally belittled their colleague, Brendan Reilly (42nd). They looked delusional, as if they thought the burial of Reilly's prerogative in this case beneath the mayor's underground museum would insulate them from suffering the same fate in their wards.

Aldermen know that Chicagoans overwhelmingly oppose this taking of Grant Park: On Wednesday, three of the 14 committee members -- Carrie Austin (34th), Eugene Schulter (47th) and Frank Olivo (13th) -- didn't even attend the meeting. Isaac Carothers (29th) showed up but didn't vote. Thomas Allen (38th) gave an impressive talk about how historic the decision would be -- then he, too, quietly left without voting on it.

Voluntarily surrendering this prerogative to Daley means this crucial part of the aldermen's jobs won't be the same again. Some recall that, as recently as Feb. 14, Daley publicly defended the right of all the aldermen to rule on zoning changes in their wards. Of course, the zoning dispute then in question involved Daley's native 11th Ward and its unfailingly compliant alderman, James Balcer.

On Wednesday the full City Council will consider this land grab. Neighbors already have sued to block it: The council chambers will brim with lawyers cocksure that they know whether Illinois Supreme Court justices of the 21st Century will undo Grant Park protections enshrined by Illinois Supreme Court justices of the 19th and 20th Centuries. We'll see. What's certain is that, if the aldermen buckle to Daley, taxpayers will pay for many years of legal bills to defend the actions of City Hall and the Chicago Park District.

We don't know why Daley is hellbent on placating influential Chicagoans and suburbanites who dominate the museum board. Maybe he's showing the aldermen -- especially Reilly, who got a standing ovation from residents at the zoning meeting -- who's boss.

Nor do we know why the museum officials have trashed the reputation of their institution by displaying such selfishness and hubris. There is much from which City Hall cannot protect them, including forensic auditing that has begun on years of their public financial filings to the Internal Revenue Service and the attorney general of Illinois. Our hunch is that, by whatever year this gets resolved, we will all have learned the secrets driving this assault on Grant Park.

Aldermen, think of the heroes of earlier centuries. Think of your legacy -- stewardship or betrayal? -- to your descendants, the kids of future centuries. Then tell the museum executives they cannot have Grant Park.